HONG KONG (AP) — Schools and work activities remained suspended in parts of southern China on Thursday as Typhoon Yagi approached an island province, potentially becoming the strongest storm to hit the region in a decade.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued a typhoon level 8 signal on Thursday evening, the third highest warning in the city’s weather system. It said the Super typhoonwith maximum sustained winds of 210 kilometers per hour (130 miles per hour), would pass about 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of the financial center on Friday morning.
Kindergartens, special schools and evening classes have already been cancelled in the semi-autonomous city, although the weather was still calm on Thursday morning. The education office announced that classes in the city would remain closed on Friday to ensure the safety of students.
Dozens of flights were also canceled in the city on Thursday and Friday, and care centers for children and the elderly were closed. About 30 emergency shelters organized by the government were opened for those in need.
The observatory said signal No. 8 is expected to remain in effect until at least noon Friday, meaning the city’s stock exchange will likely be closed on Friday.
China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that tens of thousands of fishing boats, along with nearly 70,000 fishermen, had returned to ports in Hainan and elsewhere to seek shelter. State broadcaster CCTV said some train services had been suspended since Thursday evening.
Hainan’s meteorological bureau predicts the typhoon will make landfall on Friday in the region stretching from Qionghai in Hainan to Dianbai in neighboring Guangdong province. The meteorological bureau said it could be the strongest typhoon to hit Hainan in the past 10 years, Xinhua reported. The tropical island is a popular tourist destination known for its resorts and duty-free shopping.
In Guangdong, all tourist attractions and beaches on the coast were ordered to close from Wednesday evening, and dozens of flights were cancelled at the city’s airport in Zhuhai, state media China Daily reported.
Typhoon Yagi moved north from the Philippines, where it Trigger landslides and unleash heavy rains This caused flooding and claimed at least 14 lives.
